Picture it: Shenzhen, China in 2018. The three of us are fresh off the plane from the States and have very little idea what exactly we are getting ourselves into. We had heard of “Chinglish,” the often-comical blending of Chinese and English that is the product of illogical translations. It’s very popular in print, seen on many official public signage and in clothing.
Chinglish can also happen real-time, in the camera setting of any translator application. And now that we’ve experienced it, we’re including the unexpected and confusing differences in cultures in our Chinglish experiences that range from speaking and reading to smelling and eating. Remember, we have tried a popular Chinese chicken dish, some unique snacks, and a popular fruit on three.Separate. Occasions.
Now we know that for pepper oil, you can keep it in a cold mouth or on the counter at room temperature. Or, in a cold mouth. You have options.
Garlic lovers that we are, we ordered this bad boy online…
and received two ketchups and a spoon as free gifts.
Kim ordered this box of 48 packets of instant coffee for us both to take to our respective schools. We split the box up so we could have brain fuel at work, but struggled with sharing the free gifts…
…because we only got one mug and one spoon. It was free, so I’m not complaining, but this mug is way too small for anything I would want to drink, except maybe espresso. This is a good size for a shot of espresso. A coffee mug should be BIG. When I need coffee, I need a lot of coffee. Who’s with me?!
We ordered this quirky little wine stopper,
… and also received this silicone snail. We kept it for a year and never learned its purpose.
During our keto era, we ordered 500 grams of unsalted butter,
and the vendor gifted us with popcorn. What else are we going to use all that butter for anyway?
We bought fabric softener and it came with scrubby sponges.
This is fabric cleaner, thoughtfully sent along with a toothbrush to really focus on those gritty areas. They also sent a magic eraser, which we have never used on fabric.
